Little words of wisdom

 

Bits and pieces

image from Clipart Library

As per usual, I'm behind with my garden photos 😉 

I'm really happy (and not a little surprised!) that we've managed to get as much done as we have over the last few months, but must confess that I was glad when put our garden work on hold until the spring, as I was starting to feel pretty tired!

There were still a few flowers to be seen in the garden last week, though.  I'm not sure what this shrub is called as the writing on the label has disappeared, but I'm pretty sure it's viburnum bodnantense Dawn.  It was totally smothered by weeds before I got this section of the border cleared, so it's very pleasing to see it flowering.  Less pleasing to see the bloody weeds coming through again though 😒

These two plants are papaver rupifragum.  I was surprised to see the larger plant flowering again, plus the newly-forming buds, at this time of year.  Like the viburnum I guess it was happy to have been released from it's weedy prison 😏

Some of the fox and cubs plants (pilosella aurantiaca) were also flowering.  

Early last week I tried to use my somewhat dodgy photographic skills to capture a picture of the moon.  It was late afternoon and the moon was so silvery and gorgeous that I thought I'd give it a go.

Alas, my photos just couldn't do it justice 😳 Despite the different shades of the background and the moon herself, by the way, these three photos were in fact taken one-after-the-other!

Still, I gave it a whirl and I'm fairly pleased in as much as they are the best photos of the moon that I've managed thus far in my very nondescript photographic career 😄

 

A tad wintery

image from Clipart Library

It should come as no surprise, I know, that it's turned very cold and wintery ~ we are, after all, well into November.  I suppose we've been spoilt a little as to be honest, whilst we had a lot of rain, the weather wasn't too cold over autumn relatively speaking.    

That's definitely changed now, though, and we woke up this morning to a dusting of snow.  The sun has been shining but not enough to melt said snow, unfortunately ❄

My photographic skills can never do it justice, despite my best efforts, but the sky was beautiful.

Everywhere looked very chilly ~ the sea is cold all year but this morning seemed even more so!  As I sit typing this, the clouds are sending down more snow 🌨  I'm glad I don't have to venture out today!  I would have liked to do some more sorting/tidying in my craft room but I'm not going to risk walking up the slope in the garden to get out there😳 

Still, at least we now have the perfect excuse to light the wood-burner and as it was so cold last night, we had our first fire of the season ~ bliss 😊

Peace...

 

www.allposters.co.uk

Father, Mother, God,

Thank you for your presence during the hard and mean days.

For then we have you to lean upon.

Thank you for your presence during the bright and sunny days.

For then we can share that which we have with those who have less.

And thank you for your presence during the Holy Days.

For then we are able to celebrate you and our families and our friends

For those who have no voice, we ask you to speak.

For those who feel unworthy, we ask you to pour your love out in waterfalls of tenderness.

For those who live in pain, we ask you to bathe them in the river of your healing.

For those who are lonely, we ask you to keep them company.

For those who are depressed, we ask you to shower upon them the light of hope.

Dear Creator, You, the borderless sea of substance, we ask you to give to all the world that which we need most.....PEACE.

Maya Angelou

(4th April 1928 - 28th May 2014)   

Soon be bedtime...

image from Clipart Library

 for the garden at least.  Work in the craft room has been temporarily put on hold, as I have been anxious to finish off as much as possible in the garden whilst I can still get out there without freezing my fingers off 😉  I think I have now just about reached the point where the garden will have to be left to its own devices for a few months, but I do still have a few photos to share with you!  

Last month I told you that I had moved some ferns into this raised bed near the bathroom extension.  I have since moved a somewhat sad-looking butterfly bush and two more ferns into the bed, along with a lamium.  They had all been in the path border that will eventually be grassed over.  I really must get that little bird bath scrubbed out 😳

The old wheelbarrow had spent the summer in the kitchen courtyard, filled with argyranthemum Grandaisy Pink Halo.  They have been moved into the greenhouse for the winter, so I was able to get some winter/spring bedding planted in their place.  The barrow is now filled with primula Scentsation Rhubard and Custard.  I also moved it round to the front garden, to sit on the stone chippings near the fern bed.

The little plugs had been languishing in the plant tray they had been grown in and were starting to look a little sad, so I was eager to get the poor little buggers planted out!  They soon perked up and one has even started to flower 😊 

I was very happy to finally get the rest of the strawberries moved, as it was a job that I really didn't want to leave half done.  I spread bark chippings on and around the pots as a tidy finishing touch.

I still have about a dozen or so plants left, which I haven't quite decided what to do with.  I may move them out the back, as ground cover in the beds over in the more "utility" side of the garden.  That's a job that I will probably leave until spring to do, as I won't be needing this bed until I'm ready to plant next year's potato tubers. 

The raised bed in the new patio area is also finished.  Adrian dug out the plants from the path border for me, and I sat on my trusty garden stool whilst I put them in their new home.  The soil was less soggy than it had been towards the top, but was still pretty claggy when I had to dig further down to make larger holes for the plants with bigger roots.

Adrian also dug out clumps of the London Pride (I think that's what it is, anyway!) that edges the path border, which I planted in the tubs with the roses and buddleja.

The path border is now looking pretty bare.  I'll dig out the rest of the London Pride in the spring and move it elsewhere.  No doubt there will still be remnants of the dreaded dwarf elder lurking which we'll have to dig out, but hopefully we will get it seeded next year and looking tidy out there!

By the end of last week the greenhouse was starting to fill up with the tender perennials.....next time I'll show you how much is crammed in there now 😄

Little words of wisdom

 

A new elephant to chomp!

image from Clipart Library

Well not exactly a new elephant, more an old one revisited 😏  Last June my craft room was in a terrible mess but by August I had managed to tame the chaos.  Fast forward a year and chaos was once again reigning supreme *sigh*  Lovely Lyndi helped me to make some Big Decisions last year about what to keep and what to sell or donate.

We also knew that we wanted a cupboard of some sort in the newly-finished porch, so I suggested to Adrian that we could use the rather nice pine one from the craft room.  It had previously been in the dining room of our old house but we didn't need it indoors when we moved here.  So moving that out created even more upheaval in the craft room!

Unfortunately, with one thing or another, I didn't actually get round to working through the sell or donate pile and "stuff" started to pile up once again.  Before I knew it, I was back to square one and feeling even more dispirited than I had done last year 😔 

Lyndi had helped me to rearrange the furniture in the craft room last year and although it was better than it had previously been, I was still somewhat dissatisfied with the layout.  Some of the problem lay in the fact that the workbench, although lovely and sturdy, is nigh-on impossible to clamp anything to as the top doesn't project far enough over the supporting struts beneath.  I thought that if I could replace it with something more suitable, it would make an admirable platform to display some of my dolls' houses, with space beneath for storage crates.

I had been mulling over possible solutions for quite some time, taking lots of measurements of both the space available and the furniture I already had to slot into said space.  In the end I found these two work tables to replace the old bench, which Adrian and I shuffled round to a different position to become a dolls' house display/storage area.  As you can see, the new work tables don't match but unfortunately I didn't have enough space to fit in two of the larger ones.  I wanted to make as much use of the space as possible, hence the two different tables.  I have since bought some oilcloth to cover them both, so hopefully the difference in size will be less noticeable although to be honest it doesn't really matter to me.  I also bought some oilcloth to cover the old bench, in a plain grey design that sort of resembles concrete, to make a better looking base for the houses that will be displayed on it. 

This, I'm afraid, is the mess I've left myself with yet again...

It's amazing, really, just how much chaos one woman can create 😳

It was really tricky to get through the door, let alone walk around in the room itself!

In the end, I had to give myself a good talking to and just tackle it one little section at a time ~ you know, eating that elephant 😉

The sideboard, that it just about visible next to the bookcase, used to be tucked into the corner to the left.  I moved the crates that used to be here to stand beside the old work bench, as you can see in the photo further up the page.

We have various items to donate to Restart, and I have made a start selling some bits and pieces on our local Facebook marketplace.  The green and white striped container has a blanket project in it that I'd forgotten I'd started 😏 I've brought it indoors now to join the queue behind the other projects I currently have on the go 😉  

As you can see, I have a number of dolls' house projects waiting to be started 😄

I decided last year that I would let my vintage doll collection go, so they are still in crates waiting for me to list them on Ebay.  

I shall probably rearrange the stuff on the bookshelves at some point, but Gervaise, Jolly Molly, and Gloria will stay where they are.  They like to see what's going on in the craft room and supervise my antics 😊

Remembrance...

image from Freepik

They shall not grow old,

as we that are left grow old:

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We will remember them.

Laurence Binyon (1869-1943)

from his poem For the Fallen,

written in September 1914

Peace...

www.allposters.co.uk

Father, Mother, God,

Thank you for your presence during the hard and mean days.

For then we have you to lean upon.

Thank you for your presence during the bright and sunny days.

For then we can share that which we have with those who have less.

And thank you for your presence during the Holy Days.

For then we are able to celebrate you and our families and our friends

For those who have no voice, we ask you to speak.

For those who feel unworthy, we ask you to pour your love out in waterfalls of tenderness.

For those who live in pain, we ask you to bathe them in the river of your healing.

For those who are lonely, we ask you to keep them company.

For those who are depressed, we ask you to shower upon them the light of hope.

Dear Creator, You, the borderless sea of substance, we ask you to give to all the world that which we need most.....PEACE.

Maya Angelou

(4th April 1928 - 28th May 2014)    

Being sensible

image from Freepik

Although it's not my natural state of being I have been pretty sensible following on from the very annoying leg mishap of last Saturday 😏 I had a hair appointment on Monday and although we caught the bus down, we actually walked home.  We had only just missed a bus so rather than hang around for an hour, I felt that I could walk home if I took it very slowly ~ which I did.  I suspect that this very slow walk actually helped, along with the Ibuprofen and periods of resting the leg over the last few days.  I've also been able to get out in the garden for a couple of hours or so at a time, albeit with me sitting down to work and Adrian doing the digging!

I mentioned previously that I was moving the strawberries.  Although I managed to get half the bed done fairly well, I managed to get myself into a right old pickle with the rest of it *sigh*  Luckily for me, Adrian came to the rescue and volunteered to do it for me ~ I think he could see how frustrated with my efforts I was becoming!  As you can see, I've only got half the strawberries actually moved into their new accommodation thus far but I'm hoping to finish the bed over the next few days.  It's a job that I can do sitting down so that's an added bonus at the moment 😉

Before "leg-gate", Adrian had finished the newly-extended raised bed in the new patio area.  We started to move the plants from the path border that ~ fingers crossed ~ we will be grassing over next year.  He dug them out for me and I then planted them in their new home.  The soil in this bed was still pretty wet which made it a not-very-pleasant exercise, to be honest.  Still, needs must, and at least we made a start on the job even if our gardening gloves and tools ended up covered with sticky mud in the process!

 

I've also made a start on bringing in my tender perennials.  These argyranthemum Grandaisy Pink Halo were planted in an old wheelbarrow which I had in the kitchen courtyard over the summer.  They grew very well and I'm hoping that they will survive the winter in the greenhouse, ready to be put back in the garden next year.  They are very pretty plants, and flower for months.  I think they are extremely good value for money.

Ta-daaa!  I actually remembered to take an up-to-date photo of Miss Schlumbergera ~ I hope you are duly impressed with my memory 😄  I would have liked to have knelt down to take a slightly better photo but decided not to risk having to get back up again, so just bent my knees as much as I dared!  You can still see how pretty she is looking, though, despite my lack of photographic skills 😊

Little words of wisdom

 

A self-inflicted lazy weekend

image from Freepik

If only I had been doing something sporty ~ alas I was only changing our bed 😯

Saturday started off well and I was planning to carry on with what I had been doing during the earlier part of last week, i.e. working in the garden in the morning, and continue tackling the mess in my craft room after lunch.  I decided to be a bit sensible, though, and have a somewhat "slower" weekend as we'd both been working hard during the week.  We almost always Komp with my Dad either Saturday or Sunday, depending really on which day suits him best.  This weekend it was to be on Saturday, so I thought I'd strip off our bed and get the bedding in the washing machine whilst I showered, breakfasted, etc.  We then chatted with Dad and as time was marching on somewhat by the time we'd finished, I decided to remake our bed and only do an hour or so in the garden.  So far, so good 😏

I got the fresh bedding on the bed and was just straightening up Adrian's pillow ~ leaning across from my side of the bed ~ when I felt, almost "heard" actually, a popping sensation in the back of my right leg!  Omg, my lovelies, pain shot through said leg and I had to sit down very quickly as I felt decidedly odd😧 I just sat there for a few minutes sort of rocking myself back and forth in an effort to calm down ~ it sounds mad, I know, but it did work!  I gingerly felt my leg and nothing seemed out of place, as it were.  I was worried that perhaps I'd managed to somehow tear a muscle but on reflection I think I must have just given something a good "pull", as I'm sure I would have been in much more (and continuing) pain if I'd done anything more serious.

So as you can imagine no work has been done either in the garden or craft room these past couple of days.  I'm a tad annoyed with myself, to be honest, as I had been on such a roll all week 😒 My weekend has instead been spent alternating between resting my leg with a soothing heating pad and gently walking around the house, coupled with taking plenty of paracetamols.  The leg is still pretty sore, and feels as if the back of my knee/top of calf/lower thigh are bruised.  Who knew that doing something as simple, and everyday, as leaning across a bed could cause such discomfort!

I have resigned myself to doing less than I had planned this week.  I do have a hair appointment later this morning so will be doing more walking today.  I am going to be sensible, though, and get the bus so that I am not walking all the way from our house down to the shops, and will also use my walking stick for a little added support.

As I said earlier, though, it is very annoying 😒 

Anyhoo, enough of my tales of woe!

I'm not sure if I mentioned that our Christmas decorations had been languishing in the store room, untouched, for quite some time?  I kept telling myself that I really must sort through them as we haven't really decorated the house for Christmas much at all since we moved here.  I finally got a "push" when the activities organiser (I can't remember her proper title!) at Hamnavoe House (the residential elderly care home here in Stromness) put out a call asking if folk had any decorations they could donate.  Adrian brought the crates in from the store room for me a couple of weeks back and I went through them.

I was pretty ruthless and managed to gather a fairly large crate of things to donate, plus a couple of larger items that wouldn't fit in said crate.  As we have family coming up this year for Christmas I will be making a concerted effort to decorate the house, and may well decide that some of the things I kept this time can actually go after all😉  

And finally, I thought you might like to see how the schlumbergera is doing.  This photo was taken a couple of weeks back and I'm really pleased that the promise of flowers it was showing then haven't disappointed ~ I'll try to remember to take an up-to-date photo to share in my next post 😊